


Stitches

by omgjasminesimone



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:49:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23384038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omgjasminesimone/pseuds/omgjasminesimone
Summary: If he could, he would stitch their severed bond back together
Relationships: Bryce Lahela/Main Character (Open Heart)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Stitches

Casey is walking Edenbrook’s halls, on her way from a consult, when she spots Bryce through the window of an exam room.

She double takes. She can’t be looking at what she thinks she’s looking at. She immediately opens the door, shutting it behind her. “Bryce Lahela, what are you doing?”

Bryce looks up from the mirror propped up on an over bed table. “Hey Casey.” He greets casually.

“Are you seriously stitching up your own forehead right now?!” 

Bryce winks at her. “Kind of hot, right?”

“No, actually. Kind of stupid.” Casey walks over to him, pushing on his shoulder so he’ll sit on the exam chair. She takes the suture from him, crouching slightly to examine the gash on his forehead. “How’d you do this?”

“Basketball injury. Cooper totally fouled me, and I went down to the asphalt pretty hard. I sunk both my free throws though.” Bryce replies, smiling at her when she shakes her head at the knowledge he continued to play with blood streaming down his forehead. 

“This is deep Bryce.” 

“I know, that’s why I was stitching it up.”

“Why would you try to stitch up your own forehead? I’m doing it.” Casey insists. She turns, after handing him the suture so she can glove up. “Did you already disinfect the wound?”

“Yes Dr.” Bryce quips, leaning back on his hand and watching her. 

Casey grabs a tube of lidocaine to numb his forehead, turning back towards him. 

“I don’t need an anesthetic.” Bryce insists. 

Casey scoffs. “Who are you trying to impress? I’m numbing you.” 

“If you do it right, it shouldn’t hurt. If you numb me, how am I supposed to know if you’re messing up the money maker? I don’t want a scar.” 

Casey rolls her eyes, but tosses the lidocaine to the side. “Fine. Suffer for no reason then.” She takes the suture back, carefully continuing where he left off.

Bryce laughs, but then winces. That does kind of hurt. He’s not going to complain though. He lets her work in silence for a few moments, watching the adorable way she scrunches her nose as she concentrates. “You know, you’re really pretty from this close up.” Bryce flirts. 

“Are you saying I don’t look good from a distance Dr. Lahela?”

“You always look good, but from this angle? Sexily suturing up my wound?” Bryce lets out a long wolf whistle, and Casey can’t help but laugh. 

“You never give up, do you?”

Bryce smiles, but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “On you? Never Casey.”

Casey swallows, meeting his eyes for a second before refocusing on the gash above his eye. They’d, well mostly she, had decided to cool things down between them recently. Their hook ups were starting to feel more like a relationship than a casual thing, and Casey wasn’t exactly ready for that. Not with Bryce anyway. She’d thought she was ready to go there with Rafael, who’s family she’d met, who she thought was serious about her, but then he had a whole girlfriend appear out of nowhere, breaking her heart. 

Bryce seemed more than willing to mend her heart, but she refused to give him the opportunity. She’d dated guys like Bryce Lahela before. And while the flirts are fun at first, there usually comes a time when they take some innocent flirtation too far. Maybe it’s not fair for her to not trust him, since he’s never done anything to betray her confidence, but she can’t help but think he’s capable of doing so. She would have never thought Rafael would be capable of hurting her, but if Raf could who’s to say Bryce wouldn’t? 

Bryce seems to be able to read the change in her mood. “Hey Casey?”

“Hmm?” She prompts, finishing the last stitch. She cuts the thread and steps back to admire her handiwork. He won’t have a scar. 

“Sorry, was that over the line? I know you said you just wanted to be friends, and I’m trying really hard to respect that. But….it’s just going to take me a second to adjust back to friend Bryce instead of friend-with-benefits Bryce, okay?” If he’s being honest with himself, he doesn’t think he’s ever going to be able to make that adjustment with her. He’s never going to be able to look at her without wanting to kiss her. He’s never going to stop wanting her. 

But she doesn’t want him. He has to keep reminding himself of that. 

“Not over the line at all. We’re good. We’re friends.” Casey reassures him. 

Bryce stands, plastering on a smile as he pulls her into a hug. “Well, thank you for stitching me up, friend.”

“You’re very welcome, friend.” Casey replies, squeezing him once before pulling away. 

“Have you eaten breakfast yet? I heard a rumor the cafeteria is serving cinnamon rolls today.” Bryce informs her. 

“There’s no way you eat things like cinnamon rolls and look the way you do.” Casey retorts. 

Bryce slings an arm over her shoulder, leading her out of the exam room after he throws away their medical trash. “That’s why I workout, so I can eat whatever I want. Cinnamon rolls on me!”

The way she leans into him as they walk gives him hope that maybe one day they’ll be more than friends, again. 


End file.
